


War

by Lafeae



Series: Puppyshipping [10]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Card Games, Family Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Written in an Hour, but not duel monsters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 09:57:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15337407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lafeae/pseuds/Lafeae
Summary: “It’s all luck, this game,” Joey said. They drew, and Seto took the pair again. “An’ Lady Luck loves me.”“Does she now?” Seto asked. “Then I suppose you can enjoy her love, tonight, instead of mine.”Because sometimes, even dinner needs to be decided by a game.And Seto’s certainly competitive.Alls fair in love and war, right?





	War

**Author's Note:**

> Because I work in a casino and was bored at work today. Imagining these two gambling over dinner because...why not?
> 
> Really resisting the temptation to write a casino-themed AU with Kaiba as some card shark....

“I! Declare! War!”

Two plastic card snapped against the table. Three cards face down, the last one face up.

Ace of diamonds versus a king of spades.

Joey beamed. “Nyeh!”

“Dammit!” Mokuba glared across the table as Joey swept up the eight playing cards and put them at the bottom of his deck.

The cards in Mokuba’s hand had dwindled to five cards, while Joey’s thumbnail slid, triumphant, down the rest of the deck.

“Draw!” Joey shouted, they each drew a card.

The cards slapped down on the table. Eight of spades versus an eight of hearts. Mokuba paled. “Crap....”

Grey eyes hit gold, glaring. “I! Declare! War!”

The cards all came down, revealed. Joey’s three of spades versus Mokuba’s two of spades.

“Man, that’s a bad beat,” Joey commented, pooling all the cards together into the full deck. Mokuba fell back onto the floor, hands between his knees, almost growling in defeat as he scowled up at Joey.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t rub it in.”

The front door opened, and the pair looked over, seeing as Seto entered, setting his briefcase down. “You’re late, nii-sama!”

“I was not given a specified time to be home,” Seto rebutted.

“You agreed to dinner tonight though,” Mokuba protested, and he stood up, running over as Seto put his coat on the rack. “Which means come home on time.”

“You also said you would tell me where we were going and never did. I’m not the only one not upholding their word.”

“Nii-sama....”

“So do you know where we’re going?” Seto asked. He rounded into the parlor, catching where Joey was ruffling through cards. Their eyes met.

“Whereever I pick,” Joey said, and raised the deck of cards. “Won the right from ‘im.”

Seto looked back at Mokuba who had latched onto his brother’s shirt, pouting. “We were arguing where to go,” Mokuba said to Seto’s questioning gaze. “So...we wagered it on a game of cards.”

“You were gambling over dinner?”

“Yup,” Joey replied, smug. “An’ now we’re goin’ t’ the—“

Seto grimaced. “—don’t say it—“

“—Indian place,” Joey was beaming, but Mokuba was shaking his head.

“Mokuba, why would you do that?” Seto asked.

“Because you were late!” Mokuba said.

A sigh rippled through Seto, and he turned back to Joey, who never lost his golden smile. “What’s the game?” He asked.

“War,” said Joey. 

“Really? You bet on War?” Seto scoffed. He knelt down at the coffee table, across from Joey, and held his hand out. “Cards.”

“What?” Joey asked, scooting back up to the table. “Ya gonna try me now?”

“You’re not choosing dinner; you made a child gamble. On War of all games.”

“Well I wasn’t gonna play poker with ‘im. Kid cheats,” Joey snorted, waving his hand. Seto glared Joey down. “I’m serious. Ya should see ‘im in D n’ D, too,” said Joey. He eyed his lover’s open palm, reluctant to give his winnings up, before handing it over.

Seto was quick to shuffle, let Joey cut, and then dealt out the two halves of the deck so quickly that Joey was sure Seto had managed to grow a third hand. Sweeping up his cards, evening them out, Joey looked up at Seto. He was on the receiving end of one of Seto’s competitive stares, his mouth set and brows furrowed.

Suddenly, Joey felt like he was just some small peon, some faceless opponent across the bright lights of a duel arena, and any semblance of affection was gone from Seto’s person. This was just someone he had to win against.

“Ready?” Joey asked. Seto didn’t scare him—he knew his lover was a competitive asshole. This was just another game.

“I am. Are you sure you are, pup?”

“Anytime,” Joey grinned, and his fingers flinched against the cards to get a grip. “And—draw!”

The cards slapped against one another, and Seto swept up the pair, flipping it over and pulling it to his stack.

It went again. And again. And again. Seto’s mechanical preciseness made it a challenge for Joey to keep up with. He swept up any of his wins and, indignantly, flicked away any losses. At least Joey could say that Seto was fair. He hoped.

“Lookin’ pretty in my favour here,” Joey said, thumbing down the side of the cards. They drew. Joey won. And he began to smile as Seto flicked the cards over to him.

“You have 38 cards,” Seto said. Another draw. He took the two cards back from Joey. “36. Don’t start celebrating.”

“It’s all luck, this game,” Joey said. They drew, and Seto took the pair again. “An’ Lady Luck loves me.”

“Does she now?” Seto asked. “Then I suppose you can enjoy her love, tonight, instead of mine.”

“Seto! Don’t be gross!” Mokuba chided.

Joey’s nostrils flared. “I ain’t gonna let you win,” he said. Cards were thrown down, Seto swept up his win. “No matter what your threatenin’.”

Seto smirked, and they drew again, this time to sixes against one another. Their eyes met. “Ya know what else I like ‘bout this game?” Joey asked, and he leaned in close, his pointer finger settling on the cards. “This. Ya can’t count the cards when they burn here.”

“You think I’m counting the cards?” Seto asked.

“‘Course ya are. This is all a math problem t’ ya. This war here means ya can’t see every card. Means I got jus’ as much of a chance as you do, an’ I ain’t even tryin’,” Seto’s eyes narrowed. “Oh yeah, Joey Wheeler knows what’s up with ya there. Ya don’t think I pay attention, but I do.”

“Shut up and draw,” Seto ordered.

Joey chuckled, knowing he had hit the nail on the head. His fingers pinched the edge of the cards, seeing Seto do the same, pulling back.

“I! Declare! War!” Joey said, noting his lover’s lack of participation in the chant. The three cards slid out, with Seto flicking them across the table like throwing stars.

“Aw, c’mon, nii-sama, ya gotta say it,” Mokuba said before Joey could. “It’s part of the fun.”

“Perhaps next time,” Seto replied. They laid the last card down. Seto swept the win up and into his deck.

The back and forth went on, and with each passing turn, Joey’s deck drew smaller and smaller, until there were only four cards left, much like he had left Mokuba just minutes earlier. The only good coming of it was Seto’s improved mood, Joey thought.

“What was that about Lady Luck earlier?” Seto mocked.

“‘Ey, none of that. I still got cards here! See ‘em?”

Seto shrugged. “No cards bigger than a ten,” he replied.

“Oh yeah? Think your so smart? Draw!”

A ten of hearts versus an eight of clubs. “Oh look, you won with a ten,” Seto deadpanned. The cards were flicked over to Joey.

“Lucky guess.”

Slowly and surely, the cards began to come back to Joey, and with each passing war, growing more frequent, burning more of his lover’s cards, could he see where Seto was flitting his eyes back and forth, calculating for blanks, Joey was sure. Though it did remind Joey to maybe try and drag Seto to Las Vegas at some point, just to see what might happen.

Before long, it was Seto hanging on to a remaining few cards, with Joey gripping most of the deck in his hand.

“Draw!”

Threes. Another war. Mokuba groaned: “Hurry up. I’m starving to death here.”

Joey gave a thumbs up. “This’ll be the last one. Yer brother’s on his last cards,” he said, pointing to the four cards in Seto’s hand. “An’ then I’ll be the King o’ War. Like always. Ready?” He asked.

“Such a noble title; I’ll make sure to tell Yugi,” said Seto, his hand hovering over top his deck. “Let’s get this over with.”

“I! Declare! War!”

Seto was fervent in his shout, and Mokuba was surprised to see him rise off his knees as he threw the cards out, landing the last one over top of Joey’s as if ready to imprint it into the coffee table.

Joey peered over. Blinked. “Huh...”

“Appropriate,” Mokuba stated. Joey looked over, face screwed in confusion. Mokuba shook his head. “Nothing.”

Seto’s card was the king of diamonds. Joey’s card was the king of hearts.

“Looks like a draw,” Seto replied, bland. Disappointed.

“Nah, I win,” Joey said. “You’re outta cards.”

“They’re the same cards,” Seto argued. “It’s a draw.”

Joey shook his head. “What are ya gonna play with then, huh?” Seto glared him down. Crossed his arms; Joey stood up, all the cards pulled into the deck, and he kissed Seto on the tip of his curled nose. “Yer so cute when you’re mad.”

Mokuba stuck out his tongue. “You guys are so gross...”

“It’s a draw,” Seto said. “You didn’t win, so you don’t choose.”

Joey rolled his head to the side. “C’mon, don’t be a sore loser, Seto.”

“I didn’t lose. It was a draw,” Seto affirmed.

“So who picks, then?” Joey asked.

Mokuba’s hand shot up. “Oh! I know! Let the kid dying of starvation pick!” The couple looked down to him, then back up to each other.

“What did he want?” Seto asked.

“That one place where they ‘treat you like family’.” Joey replied, complete with air quotes.

“Yeah! They’re hilarious!” Mokuba sat up, excited. “The TV Diner, remember, nii-sama?”

“You mean that place where they yell at you,” Seto stated. The younger Kaiba was emphatic in his nodding, though Seto and Joey were sharing the same displeased expression.

“Ya know,” Joey began. “If ya really think it’s a draw, we can play again. Get an actual answer.”

“With pleasure,” Seto said. The deck was snatched out of Joey’s hands, shuffled mid-air. The blond sat at the table, scooping up his cards as his lover dealt.

“Aaaargh....”Mokuba fell back on the couch, stomach rumbling. “I’m gonna diiiieee!!!”


End file.
